I have a stack of lids. I don’t know if I have the containers that fit the lids. Yesterday when I cleaned the basement, I tossed them into my work area.
Tonight when I cleaned out my work area I moved the lids to the other side of the basement and placed them on top of boxes I still have to unpack.
Tomorrow I will move the lids again when I unpack the boxes they are sitting on.
I have moved four times in the last three years. I have taken all my lids with me. I may need them one day.
————————–
Today is the day I will make a decision about the lids. I feel brave as I approach the stack. Is it possible that I will find the containers they fit, and throw away the lids that I don’t need? I also have a wheel chair wheel and two maple ends to a crib that I found beside a neighbors garbage can last fall. They were so interesting. And maybe I could make something with them.
These objects are cluttering my brain. I have moved them around downstairs like the lids. I am not sure what to do with the wheel or the crib ends. I don’t have a good place to store them. I don’t want them anymore. I want to simplify my life. In the book Simplicity by Kim Thomas, she states the importance of narrowing our focus, “If we don’t narrow down what we apply ourselves to in life, we will go about trying to do a little of everything and basically contribute mush when we could add our own unique color.”
I do not want to create mush. If you use too many colors when you mix paint, you will get brown. My youngest daughter and I tried to make the icing for a white layer cake look like a red apple. The food coloring we used made the icing look pink. We added more colors to try to make it green instead. The icing ended up looking sort of brownish green. Her friends wouldn’t eat it because it didn’t look appetizing.
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life moving the lids with no containers from one side of the basement to the other. The neighbors will ask my husband,”How is your wife? I don’t see her much anymore.”
“Oh, she is very busy in the basement. She stacks and unstacks plastic container lids. She moves them from one side of the basement to the other. I don’t see her much either.”
I want to narrow down what I apply myself to. The supplies for crafts I have not worked on in years that were stored in boxes in the basement, are now in the garage. I will take them to the church rummage sale in a few weeks. The lids that have no containers are in recycling.
Today I will create with color, and not make mush.
I paint I write 
“Today I will create with color, and not make mush.” The idea of the mush and the colors was so interesting and vivid. You had me smiling as I read this but the deeper theme also shined through. Congratulations on creating color! It can be hard to let go. Bravo.
Well, I do have three days to take the lids out of recycling before trash day. Thank you for your comments. I always wonder how my thoughts are perceived.
I understand the dilemma with the lids, as soon as they are pitched you will locate the container or another lid will break and you have no backup lid. I have been there, I have survived.
I love the idea of narrowing the focus of life. I do not want mush either. I am going to think about this.
Would love to know what you think about the narrower focus. I see a lot of color in your slices. I wonder what is your mush.
Nice connections. I like your photo of the wheel and crib ends.
.
Thank you. Would you like them?
I have been thinking about your poem today. The roots.
How to dig deeper with my life, and not just live on the surface.
You are contributing to the lives of others in many ways. You have chosen to recycle. You have donated some items to a rummage sale. You have chosen to paint with your own unique color. You have given me something to think about. In the process, you are freeing your own soul. Good for you!
Thank you for your encouragement 🙂
I am proud of you. Now throw away all the single socks in your house! It will free you even more 🙂
Socks will be next on my list. I did think of you today when I tossed the lids 🙂
First off four moves in three years that is an amazing feat. I hope you get to stay put for awhile now. I understand about stuff and when it starts to clutter your mind it has to go I think. The part about you moving the lids back and forth with your husband’s lament made me smile.
There is a deeper message there, as well, worth pondering for myself.
Yes, the plan is to stay here. I pray that we do. It would be nice to see the trees I plant grow through the seasons.
You may enjoy the book I mentioned. She writes about our life purpose in relationship to God.
Metaphors are everywhere, and you develop this one with characteristic deliberation, depth, and clarity.
I wish I had unused lids in the basement of my mind/heart/spirit. Instead, sometimes I think I have too many containers I keep tightly sealed. I would love to reach a state of mind, heart, body where I had no need for the lids because the containers were all gone.
Your writing is the absolute opposite of mush. 🙂
Paul, you are a writer even in your comments:) So what are you going to do with you tightly sealed containers?
I think you are working on getting unused lids each day as you slice.
And, thank you for your encouragement. I think by writing today was green.
hahaha, your post had me cracking up! I know the lid/container struggle only too well. My roommates and I had the same problem in our apartment in college. When Husband and I got married, we bought a nice set of Rubbermaid containers with lids that snap onto the bottom and stack with each other for storage. We refuse to get any more containers. These organize easily and we don’t need any more! (My favorite part of your post was when you were imagining your husband telling people that you spend your days moving around the plastic lids! Hilarious!)
Glad my post gave you a smile 🙂
It sounds like you have an interesting basement. I laughed when I read, “Oh, she is very busy in the basement. She stacks and unstacks plastic container lids. She moves them from one side of the basement to the other.” Don’t let the stuff get the best of you. After all, it is just stuff. But you know that…
I’m glad you are throwing out the lids. They can be replaced. Your creativity and not becoming mush can’t. I think you should ask our class for ideas on the crib ends and the wheel. I bet they would have great ideas!
I can totally relate. Our town just started ‘zero sort’ recycling, and I got rid of 32, yes 32 covers for plastic containers. I was so happy to see them go. Simplifying your life is not easy. I’ve been working at it for a couple of years now, and it’s getting there. Unfortunately I been secretly adding art supplies. Please don’t tell. 🙂
And how much do I need to take this to heart. How many things have I been moving from apartment to apartment for how many years. The lids may have containers, but do I need all those containers? What do I think I need to be storing that I haven’t yet placed inside? And don’t I already have enough things in containers already? …
Containers with lids. I tend to avoid. Writing has helped me to focus. I am opening containers to get rid of things I don’t need. The attempt is to stop dusting my past, and admiring it, and to move on and make a new future.